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  • Mila Kunis Edition: Bits & Pieces

    Mila Kunis Edition: Bits & Pieces

    Mila Kunis Edition: Bits & Pieces – Two brothers, Nick & Alex, embark on a worldwide journey to discover what life is like for other siblings living with Down’s Syndrome. From Cornwall to New York, to Vietnam and Mumbai, they encounter families from different cultural backgrounds who each have their own outlook on living with disabilities. Along the way, with joy, laughter, and the day-to-day challenges they face, they learn more about their own relationship and the special bond they have with one another. 

    The origins of Sarah Fier’s curse are finally revealed as history comes full circle on a night that changes the lives of Shadysiders forever.

    Jennifer O’Neill, fresh from Luchino Visconti’s The Innocent, plays Virginia, a woman who has had psychic powers since childhood when she sensed her mother’s suicide… Now newly-married, Virginia becomes plagued by waking visions of bloody deaths and meaningless torment. With the aid of her parapsychologist friend (Marc Porel), she tries to uncover the meaning of the horrific visions only to discover they are premonitions of future deaths…

    Wasteland (DC Comics) inspired Del Close feature documentary FOR MADMEN ONLY is releasing on Apple TV and Altavod on July 27th, courtesy of Utopia, with special screening events taking place and a Comic-Con@Home panel discussion on July 25th, and we would be ever so grateful for your consideration for a review. 

    Eureka Entertainment have announced that the theatrical release of SWEET THING, an intimate and aching family drama from critically-acclaimed indie filmmaker Alexandre Rockwell (In the Soup, Little Feet), will be released in cinemas nationwide (UK & Ireland) from 10 September 2021. 

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HII2E4F3axw&feature=youtu.be

    Modern Films are pleased to share the official UK and Irish poster artwork for the blistering female-driven drama WILDFIRE. The film is written and directed by Cathy Brady in her feature debut and stars Nora-Jane Noone (Brooklyn, The Magdalene Sisters) alongside Nika McGuigan (Philomena, The Secret Scripture). The six-time IFTA nominated film, including nominations for Best Film and Actress in a Leading Role, received its world premiere to critical acclaim at Toronto International Film Festival in 2020 and will be released theatrically in the UK and Ireland from 3 September 2021.

    Desperate times call for desperate measures at Moordale. With new headmistress Hope at the helm, a school advert to encourage enrolment is just what Moordale needs to get back on track…

    The trailer has been released for the barnstorming new music documentary UNDER THE VOLCANO, the untold story about Sir George Martin’s iconic Air Studios Montserrat, the recording studio at the centre of the pop universe in the 1980s. The studio not only attracted the biggest musical talent on the planet including Elton John, Paul McCartney, The Rolling Stones, Duran Duran and many more, but was the birthplace of mega-hits such as Money for Nothing and Every Breath You Take. You can watch the trailer here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fn2x0oXs66U

    On the 20th anniversary of the original release in Japan – 20th July 2001 – STUDIOCANAL are proud to announce the Anniversary Collector’s Edition Box Set of SPIRITED AWAY, the STUDIO GHIBLI masterpiece (creators of My Neighbour Totoro and Howl’s Moving Castle), in stunning high-definition presented in a 20th Anniversary Collector’s Edition Box Set.

    Fifty years after the premiere of Death in Venice, Kristina Lindström & Kristian Petri’s celebrated documentary explores the life of Björn Andrésen, the former teen star who embodied the legendary character Tadzio and whom director Luchino Visconti dubbed “the most beautiful boy in the world”.

  • Fear Street Part 3: 1666 – Review

    Fear Street Part 3: 1666 – Review

    Fear Street has turned into Fear Village for the final instalment of R. L. Stine’s Netflix horror trilogy for teens. At the end of Part 2, Deena (Kiana Madeira) found the missing piece of the witch’s skeleton which she believed would end the curse and bring her town back to normal. However, what she wasn’t anticipating was that it would transport her back in time into the body of Sarah Fier (Fear, get it?), the original witch who was the cause of the curse in the first place. Although, what she finds is that Sarah Fier may not have been the evil witch that Deena thought she was and as her story unfolds, Deena starts to realise that Sarah’s story has connections to her own.

    Fear Street Part 3: 1666 is the end of the trilogy which Netflix perhaps hoped would have put us all in a spooky mood. However, with the TV budget stretched across roughly six hours, being released weekly and in July, Fear Street as a whole may not have had the impact that it intended.

    Part 3 does indeed live up to the promises of the end of Part 2 though and the tone is very different for the first half of the film. It also places the actors from the first two parts within Sarah’s story, which shows their range and may also cut down on the budget.

    However, having Part 3 set in such a different place and time does have its issues and its evident due to the budget and the cast. Firstly, the accents are not great and for what is supposed to be an Irish town whose settlers made their home in America, it does take the audience out of the period piece somewhat. Although if you’ve already seen part 1 and 2 then you may have already expected the quality to not be the best.

    Basically, if you ever wondered what The Witch would look like with a worse budget, script and cast then that’s what you’re going to get. Also, Sarah’s story overall is a little cliché and though it does connect its themes to Deena, it’s not all that original.

    Then we get to the twist and although at first this may throw people a little and comes across as unexpected, it only serves as a way to set up the second half of the film as it brings it back to where it all began. Although the nostalgia for the heady days of early July 2021 may not be as strong when they released Part 1.

    There are some nice little nods to the trilogy as a whole and some loose ends are tied up nicely, but it’s probably not best to binge watch or watch so close together as Netflix released them, because besides its ambitions, the final result is rather disposable.

  • Old: NIGHT’S VISION FEATURETTE

    Old: NIGHT’S VISION FEATURETTE

    Old: NIGHT’S VISION FEATURETTE – From visionary filmmaker M. NIGHT SHYAMALAN comes OLD— a chilling, mysterious new thriller about a family on a tropical holiday who discover that the secluded beach where they are relaxing for a few hours is somehow causing them to age rapidly … reducing their entire lives into a single day.

    GAEL GARCÍA BERNAL (Mozart in the Jungle series) leads an impressive international cast that features VICKY KRIEPS (Phantom Thread), RUFUS SEWELL (The Man in the High Castle series), ALEX WOLFF (Hereditary), THOMASIN McKENZIE (Jojo Rabbit), ABBEY LEE (Lovecraft Country series), NIKKI AMUKA-BIRD (The Personal History of David Copperfield), KEN LEUNG (Star Wars: Episode VII—The Force Awakens), ELIZA SCANLEN (Little Women), AARON PIERRE (Krypton series), EMBETH DAVIDTZ (The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo) and EMUN ELLIOTT (Star Wars: Episode VII—The Force Awakens).

    The film also stars GUSTAF HAMMARSTEN (The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo) ALEXA SWINTON (Billions series), KATHLEEN CHALAFANT (The Affair series), FRANCESCA EASTWOOD (Awake) and NOLAN RIVER (New Girl series).

    The film’s director of photography is MICHAEL GIOULAKIS (Us, Glass), the production designer is NAAMAN MARSHALL (The Visit, Don’t Breathe), and the costume designer is CAROLINE DUNCAN (Margin Call, Servant series). Old is edited by BRETT REED (Georgetown, Servant series) and the composer is TREVOR GURECKIS (The Goldfinch, Servant series). The music supervision is by SUSAN JACOBS (Cruella, Promising Young Woman) and the casting is by DOUGLAS AIBEL, CSA (Split, Manchester by the Sea).

    Old is directed by M. NIGHT SHYAMALAN from his screenplay based on the graphic novel Sandcastle by PIERRE OSCAR LÉVY and FREDERIK PEETERS. The film is produced by MARC BIENSTOCK (Glass, Split), ASHWIN RAJAN (Glass, Servant) and SHYAMALAN. The film’s executive producer is STEVEN SCHNEIDER.

    Old: NIGHT’S VISION FEATURETTE

  • Blood Born: Review

    Blood Born: Review

    Makayla (Rosie Moss) and Eric (Antoine Perry) have been trying hard for a baby. They’ve suffered great loss while going through the process of pregnancy, but now they feel that they’ve come to an impasse. Then one day Rosie’s friend, Cherise (Laurine Price) tells her about a foundation that helped her sister get pregnant and that they should consider getting in touch.

    So, after an initial meeting, Makayla and Eric welcome Ola (Melanie Haynes) into their home as they prepare for their new bundle of joy. However, there’s something not quite right about Ola and her methods, and after a while Eric becomes suspicious that there’s something sinister going on.

    Blood Born is a tongue in cheek horror about the troubles with getting pregnant and the worries that come with expecting a new child. The film is the kind of horror where the audience knows all too well that if it were them, as soon as Ola turned up then she’d be out the door. However, the film knowingly plays into the tropes of films like Rosemary’s Baby and has fun with them.

    In fact, the more that Ola tells them to do and the longer it goes on for without Eric being concerned makes it all the funnier, seeing as the audience knows that when he does, it’s far too late. Also, the fact that the audience doesn’t know the baby’s true form, keeps the audience guessing as to where it could be going and what exactly is growing inside Makayla.

    The cast all do a great job and are perfectly cast, with the film setting all the players in place so the audience may know what to expect. So, if you’re not looking for anything too deep or surprising then Blood Born may be the genre horror for you. Also, the special effects and the depth into which the script deals with mixing the medical and the supernatural may raise a few smiles among parents.

    The final act does get a little too serious though and when the film seems to throw away its parody, then it does seem to lose something.

    However, for the most part Blood Born is a fun and sly wink at the demonic possession subgenre of horror. 

  • Space Jam: A New Legacy: The BRWC Review

    Space Jam: A New Legacy: The BRWC Review

    Space Jam: A New Legacy Synopsis: Superstar LeBron James and his young son, Dom, get trapped in digital space by a rogue AI (Don Cheadle). To get home safely, LeBron teams up with Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck and the rest of the Looney Tunes gang for a high-stakes basketball game against the AI’s digitized champions of the court.

    Love it or hate it, Space Jam’s campy cartoon energy felt like a perfect encapsulation of the 90’s sensibility. The Michael Jordan-led Looney Toon’s crossover was rampant with slapstick silliness and garish style choices, but there was ultimately something endearing about it shamelessly earnest energy. The movie’s self-aware design accomplished its exact goals for energized younger viewers, with the film still holding a strong reverence with that nostalgic core audience today.

    Ironically enough, the long-awaited follow-up, Space Jam: A New Legacy, feels similarly defined by its current zeitgeist. Switching one Hall of Fame hooper for another, this busy sequel breathlessly combines the original film’s formula with a vast array of Warner Brothers IPs. It may not be the cynical abomination others are making it out to be, but Space Jam: A New Legacy never strives for more than studio-crafted mediocrity.

    To the film’s credit, certain elements do elevate the cartoonish mania. LeBron James boasts an easy-going charisma and playful comedic touch as a superstar protagonist facing life-defining challenges on and off the court. The writing restricts James to everyman pleasantness, but that doesn’t stop his affable presence from radiating across the screen. In a role most would mug through, Don Cheadle imbues vibrant energy into the villainous AI-G Rhythm. He presents con man swagger with exuberance and wit, giving audiences a foe that they truly love to hate.

    Space Jam: A New Legacy has drawn ire from online pundits, and I’m still not sure exactly why. The film admirably replicates the zany Looney Toons aesthetic of past generations, never taking itself too seriously aside from your typical schmaltzy family melodrama. Director Malcolm D. Lee endured a challenging production process (he was hired midway through the shoot), but his assured studio comedy touch plays most of the right notes. Even at a wholly unnecessary 2-hour runtime, Lee briskly races from visual gag to setpiece with enough earnest craftsmanship to prevent boredom.

    Saying I didn’t hate the movie isn’t exactly a ringing endorsement. Legacy is consistently diverting, yet its devoid of passion and a creative vision. Six writers collaborated on this aimless hodgepodge of family family mechanics, sprinkling the flat narrative contrivances with a hardy helping of recognized IPs. I don’t think incoporating established brands is without promise (Ready Player One showed the imaginative mania that could render from vast icons). It’s just never executed with much cohesion or brevity. The constant array of bad references (ranging from Citzen Kane to Austin Powers) makes the film feel like a cynical byproduct of executive meetings. Instead of self-refrential barbs, the screenwriters simply rely on pop culture references as a means of comedic gags. The results are a collection of chuckles, airball misses, and flat out bizarre gags that lack a cohesive voice (its geared towards kids, but a majority of the references are adult-oriented).

    I would be able to forgive some of Legacy’s misgivings if the film didn’t look so soulless. For a massive 160-million dollar production, Legacy presents no dynamism or verve in its AI-driven landscape. The drab colors and oppressively artificial effects work to create an empty void devoid of vivid tendencies. Considering the Looney Toons dependence on detailed animation design, a majority of their gags feel like lifeless imitations. Plenty of straightforward family films have coasted off strong aesthetic design (Spy Kids is a classic for its surreal landscape). Here, the lack of vibrancy sinks a pedestrian story from ever discovering its spark.

    Space Jam: A New Legacy lands as a competent and completely inoffensive kid-centric adventure. Younger viewers should be mildly amused, but the lack of ingenuity or charm prevents interest for older crowds. I will say, for a convenient HBO Max viewing, you could certainly do worse.

    Space Jam: A New Legacy is now playing in theaters and on HBO Max.